Beyond Hello Mystery Shopping Company
Beyond Hello is an MSPA-member company located in Madison, WI. Thank you to scheduler Erin Treece and company owners Gary Godding and Christopher Warzynski for providing this information about becoming a mystery shopper for Beyond Hello.
What types of shops does your company do?
Beyond Hello is a very versatile company and we are always looking for new challenges, so it’s hard to pinpoint an exact “type” of shop we do. We are always trying to put new and interesting things out there for our shoppers and clients. Right now I think some of the best shops we have going are the vision shops. These assignments allow shoppers to get an eye exam and prescription glasses for an extremely discounted rate, in addition to a shop fee. It’s great for someone who doesn’t have vision insurance, but needs an exam and glasses.
Describe the ideal mystery shopper.
For Beyond Hello evaluations, reading and following the guidelines is key. Our ideal shoppers know the form before they go out on the shop. They can think on their feet; not every shop is going to go by the book! Any issues are addressed directly with the schedulers to avoid potential issues, our lines of communication are always open! When it comes to submitting an evaluation, the ideal shopper spell checks and cross-checks for contradictions between questions and comments. When our clients read the shopper’s summary, they should feel like they have a snapshot in time of the shopper’s visit to the store. Overall I would say we are looking for “quality, clarity, and communication.”
What is the best way for a new shopper to get in the door and get a first assignment?
Apply, apply, apply! It can be difficult to get that first Beyond Hello assignment, but when you do, make sure to do your best and more shops will follow. Checking our job board regularly is a great way to catch assignments as we are often canceling and reassigning throughout the month. Also look for bonused shops because they are most likely in a hard-to-cover area.
Does your company recognize MSPA certification? What advantage does a Silver shopper have over non-certified? Gold over Silver?
Beyond Hello completely endorses MSPA certification. The online silver certification program is a great way for a “newbie” to learn a little about the industry and receive key training for a successful shopping career. Gold certification is really the “diploma” of Mystery Shopping. When we see a Gold Certification, we know we can count on that shopper for an excellent report that will be completed on time. However, certification isn’t everything and you don’t necessarily need it to become a successful shopper for Beyond Hello. We also look at the quality of your Sample Shop as well as your track record. If you do well on shops for us, we will consider you a “go-to” shopper even without certification.
What are the biggest challenges facing mystery shopping companies today?
The biggest challenge for Beyond Hello is maintaining such a large database of shoppers. We’re in Wisconsin, but the vast majority of our shoppers are not. We want to develop a professional relationship with all our shoppers, but it can be difficult at times to remember who is who! We encourage our staff to be actively involved in MSPA events. We love getting e-mails from shoppers and look forward to meeting you at MSPA conferences and Gold Workshops. Ten members of our staff (including editors) will be attending the Shopper Conference in Naperville July 7-9.
Any frustrations about dealing with shoppers?
Our biggest challenge with shoppers at Beyond Hello is that often our best shoppers are overlooked for doing such a great job! We tend to focus on who flakes or does a bad job, and those names become more familiar to us than the many stellar shoppers who continually perform above average for us. We just started a Shopper Incentive Program to work on this issue. We do a random drawing from our shopper database for a $50 gift card. We award a $50 gift card for the shopper with the most shopper referrals (referrals must complete the entire registration process). We also select a winner for a high-scoring store evaluation that was extremely well done, and one for a low-scoring store that was excellent. We don’t want shoppers to think giving a store a good score is a way to increase their shop grade, because what we value are the details.
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Beyond Hello gave me lots more information and I’ll be sharing it with you in a future post. Meanwhile, learn more about Beyond Hello and apply to mystery shop for them at http://www.BeyondHello.com
Cathy Stucker is the author of The Mystery Shopper’s Manual
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on December 15th, 2006 at 8:36 pm
I’ve had good experiences with Beyond Hello in the past, and found them a reliable company to work with.